The seven songs on BLUE DEX have been gathered from several different releases recorded from 1969 to 1973. At this point in his career, Gordon had cleaned himself up and relocated to Europe after surviving drug addiction and a conviction that had severely diminished his stature. In Europe, he got his career back on track and basked in the warmth of appreciative European audiences.

Dexter Gordon's long-standing love of the blues goes back to 1940, when the 17-year-old Gordon played with Lionel Hampton's band, engaging in saxophone duels with the great Illinois Jacquet. On the first track here, "Sticky Wicket," Gordon and James Moody engage in a similar battle. "Lonesome Lover Blues," one of the songs Gordon recorded with Billy Eckstine's bebop band in 1944, is included here in a scintillating live version. The most traditional-sounding blues on the collection and its lone vocal number, it is bolstered by the emphatic singing of Vi Redd and enhanced by casual stage patter and ambient noise. Gordon stretches out with some mesmerizing solo work on Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk," and "The Jumpin' Blues" lives up to its name.